On attaining (self) realization, man will love the greatest enemy who knows that the very enemy is god himself, such a man (ex., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and others) becomes a world mover for whom his little self is dead and God stands in its place. The whole universe will become transfigured to him. Pain and misery will vanish. The universe will be beautiful place. Such a man alone has the right to stand up and say how beautiful is world. He alone has the right to say that it all God.

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Collection of Thoughts from
Hindu Mystics

Part II

Subba Rao

Swami Vivekananda on Vendanta
Philosophy

The Vendanta philosophy really
comprises of all the scriptures or Vedas of Hindus which are not
necessarily hymns and rituals. The Vedas are divided into two
parts. The Karma-Kanda (work) and Gyana (Jnana)-Kanda
(Knowledge).

The famous hymns and rituals
belong to Karma-Kanda whereas the Upanishads belong to Gyana
(Jnana)-Kanda. The Upanishads, around 108 in number dated well
before Buddhistic movement.

Karma-Kanda was a search in
external nature for the truths of the Universe. It was an attempt
to get the solution of the deep problems of life from the
material world.

Gyana (Jnana)-Kanda: for all
practical purposes for ages, Shruti meant the Upanishads, the
basis for Gyana Kanda. All Hindu philosophers namely Vyasa,
Patanjali, Gautama and even the father of all philosophies Kapila
himself whenever wanted an authority for what they wrote and they
referred to Shruti or Upanishads.

Vyasa was the first one that
presented the doctrines of Vedanta or Vedanta philosophy. These
Sutras (doctrines) of Vyasa have been explained variously by
different commentators that resulted in three (3) systems of
philosophies and sects. One is Dualistic or Dvaita, the second
sect is qualified non-Dualistic or Vishista-Dvaita and the third
non-dualistic or Advaita

Shankaracharya, Ramanuja and
Madhava were commentators that brought back Vedanta philosophy
subsequent to Buddhist movement that re-established Hinduism in
India.

According to Dvaita philosophy
God is the creator of the Universe, and its preserver. God is one
to be worshiped and the ruler is eternally separate from the
nature (outside the nature and external) and eternally separate
from the Human Soul. Dvaita or Dualism is very good as means of
worship, very satisfying to the mind. This is the religion of the
masses in India today (hymns and rituals)

Advaita believe that God,
Nature and the Soul are one. But if man wants to be rational and
religious at the same time, Advaita or non Dualistic form is the
one that satisfy but it is difficult to practice by a common
man.

According to Advaita
philosophy, the same divine nature present in the lowest worm as
well as in highest human being. The little personalized Self is
the cause of all misery. The individualized self which makes me
different from all other beings brings hatred, jealousy, misery,
struggle and all other evils.

When the idea of self is get
rid of, all the struggles will cease and all miseries vanish. The
prison of misery has been changed into Sat (pronounced as sath
means existence absolute), Chit (pronounced chith means knowledge
absolute), Anand means (means Bliss absolute). Therefore Sat,
Chit, Anand are the attainment of the goal of the Advaita
philosophy.

In Advaitism, human thought
attains its highest expression and even goes beyond the mystery
which seems to be impenetrable. Advaitism is too abstract, too
elevated to be the religion of the masses. Even in India, the
birth place of Advaitism where it has been ruling supreme for the
last 3000 years, it has not been able to permeate the masses. It
is difficult for even the most thought out man and woman in any
country to understand Advaitism.

In Advaita, Om, this is
Brahman. Om is the greatest reality. He who knows the secret out
of Om, whatever he desires that he gets, therefore first know the
secret of the Om (self), and then you are the Om. The secret of
Advaita is believe in yourself (one can see this philosophy is
hard to understand and not for everybody and not for the masses
as they prefer hymns and rituals.)

What does the Advaita teaches?
It dethrones all the gods that ever existed, or even will exist
in the universe, and place on the throne, the self of man "the
Atman" greater than universe itself. No books, no scriptures, no
science can even imagine the glory of the self that as a man, the
most glorious God the ever was, the only god that ever existed,
exists or ever will exist. I am to worship therefore none but
myself. "I worship myself" says Advaitist.

These are the salient points
of the three (3) steps which Indian religious thought has taken
in regard to "God." It began with the personal, the extra-cosmic
God. It went from the external to the internal cosmic body, God
immanent in the universe, and ended in identifying the soul
itself with the God, and making one soul, a unit of all these
manifestations in the universe. This is the last word of the
Vedas. It begins with Dualism, goes through a qualified Monism
and end in a perfect Monism.

Now, as society exists at the
present time, all these three stages (dualism, qualified monism
and perfect monism) are necessary, the one does not deny the
other, one is simply the fulfillment of the other. The Advaitist
does not say the dualism is wrong; it is a right view but a lower
level.

Most Upanishads were written
by Kshyatriyas while the ritualistic portions of the Vedas were
written by Brahmins. Most teachers throughout India over the ages
were Kshyatriyas as they were always universal in teaching. Rama,
Krishna and Buddha worshiped as incarnations of God were
Kshyatriyas.

Vivekananda on Self
Realization: Realization is the soul, the very essence of
religion. You will get the realization; if you do then you will
be truly religious. Until you have attained realization there is
no difference between you and atheists. The atheists are sincere
but the man who says that he believes religion and never attempts
to realize it is not sincere.

A true Vendantist finds that
he who, he thought, was standing outside, is he himself and is in
reality within. He is the one who is free, but through
limitation of the thought, he was bound.

Why realization is good for
the world?

On attaining (self)
realization, man will love the greatest enemy who knows that the
very enemy is god himself, such a man (ex., Mahatma Gandhi,
Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and others)
becomes a world mover for whom his little self is dead and God
stands in its place. The whole universe will become transfigured
to him. Pain and misery will vanish. The universe will be
beautiful place. Such a man alone has the right to stand up and
say how beautiful is world. He alone has the right to say that it
all God.